'Again' lives up to name

BYLINE: Joanne Ostrow, TV/RADIO --
It's the same old, same old as 'Once and Again' returns tonight (at 9 on Channel 7), but again and again may be good enough for now.

With TV masters Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz (creators of 'thirtysomething') exploring the peculiar results of combining divorce, midlife romance plus children, the ABC drama remains one of TV's more emotionally probing hours for grownups, even when navigating familiar territory.

Viewers who found 'thirtysomething's' characters too self-absorbed to be entertaining probably have already given up on the 'Once and Again' families. But the census, if not the ratings, indicates that a growing number of people can relate.

As the season begins, divorced parents Lily (Sela Ward) and Rick (Billy Campbell) continue to sneak in romantic encounters without alerting the kids, hoping to get away with a sleepover on the couch. Eventually they must let their sensitive offspring know their lives are about to merge in a more consistent way, and the expected emotional reverberations result. Lily's 14-year-old, Grace, (Julia Whelan) continues to have the toughest time with the family's changes, as she is becoming socially conscious herself.

In coming weeks, the series will pick up steam as the attention shifts to Lily's less brittle sister Judy (Marin Hinkle) - who is overdue for a romantic entanglement. With the invention of a singles event at her bookstore, Judy seems to be coming into her own. Not a moment too soon.__Denver Post (October 24, 2000)